This invention relates generally to passenger loading bridges and, in particular, to a swinging-type passenger loading bridge for use at ground level airport terminals.
Passenger loading bridges have gained worldwide acceptance for the safety and convenience they afford passengers. Most major air terminals are provided with passenger loading bridges which extend from the second level of the terminal to a parked aircraft. Frequently, these bridges are relatively immobile since aircraft can park close to the terminal and be moved away by tugs or tractors.
Smaller air terminals generally are only ground level structures at which aircraft park a fixed distance from the terminal building. There frequently are no tugs available. This fixed distance is required to enable the aircraft to "power out" or move away from the building under its own power without damaging the building with jet blast. This distance is greatest with a Boeing 727-200 aircraft, which is the largest aircraft normally serving these smaller terminals. Passengers walk in the open out to the aircraft and up an open staircase into the airplane. It is not desirable to subject passengers to inclement weather or to potentially dangerous ramp conditions. It is therefore desirable to provide a passenger loading bridge for use at these smaller air terminals to enhance the safety and comfort of passengers.
A prior art swinging-type of ground level loading bridge is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,110,048--Bolton, which illustrates a bridge having a rotunda, tunnel, stairs to aircraft level, and a second tunnel which extends to the aircraft. The juncture of the stairs and the tunnel is provided with an arcuate track with cooperating wheels to support the load of the bridge. The wheels are provided with means to elevate the entire tunnel and stairs to accommodate different aircraft. This bridge design has never been commercialized, nor has any other ground level bridge, to our knowledge.